Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lanise Middleton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lanise, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

The concept was to infuse herbs into honey and butter. I played around with so many names and nothing looked right with my logo. Something just popped in my head to use what I was doing as the name. Herb Infuse didn’t sit well… how can it stand out a little??? Herb Fuzion! And there you have it.

Lanise, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Lanise Middleton, owner and operator of Herb Fuzion Honey LLC. Located in Philadelphia, PA. Herb Fuzion was established at the end of 2019. Herb Fuzion is a specialty honey company. By specialty, I mean a wide variety of flavors such as Lemon Ginger, Mango, Chili Mango, Bourbon, Wellness and many more. I also provide honey infused candles and with CBD Honey infused items.

The idea of infusing honey came to me in 2019. My then 2 year old was sick and still at the age that she could not take anything to soothe her cough or help with chest congestion. My grandmother came to me in a dream one night and it was clear as a sunny day, she told me to get some dark local honey, Turmeric, orange juice, lemon juice, ginger and mix it all together. Give her a tablespoon of that mixture two to three times a day, especially a night. I got up the next day and went to a local farmers market to get dark honey and the other items. Got home added them to an infusion machine my son purchased for me for Christmas. Gave it to her as my grandmother instructed in the dream and it worked! From that day Herb Fuzion was born.

In the midst of the pandemic, I wanted my family to be more conscious of immunity building. So I began researching natural ways to boost our immunity. That mixture I made for my daughter became my number one seller. I added other ingredients such as elderberry, Ivy Leaf, Marshmallow Root and Zinc. That wellness honey became my biggest seller especially for people who had COVID.

When I contracted COVID, I decided to add CBD tincture to my wellness honey. That was the best idea ever! CBD doesn’t get you high. It relaxes you allowing you to sleep comfortably and wake up feeling refreshed. By added that to my wellness honey, helped to relax my lungs and remove the pain in my body. After my testimony to a few family members and friends, the word spread, and I began offering honey with CBD to adults.

My other flavors came about from things I love, such as lemon, ginger, peaches, mangos, and many others.

Reading this you would think I’m an avid tea drinker. I am not. Lol. I am a lover of coffee. I’ve never liked sugar in my coffee. Honey has always been the sweetener of my choice. That’s why I make my own coffee. Most of my local coffee establishments don’t have honey as a sweetener for coffee, unless it’s a small local coffee shop. Honey I’m coffee tastes great. Especially flavored coffee’s such as Hazelnut, Caramel, and specialty brands like Jamaica me Crazy.

What stands out about Herb Fuzion is that we provide customers an innovative way to consume honey. My goal is to remove the cliche of honey only being used for tea or when you are sick. Honey has many benefits such as:
• aiding and soothing cough and congestion
•wound healing
•antioxidant properties
•lessens seasonal allergy symptoms(local honey)
And many more. We also want our consumers to know that honey is great for cooking and even better as sugar substitute. Honey can be added to your favorite cocktail or simply on a spoon.

All of the flavors are made with local honey. Local honey is considered any honey that comes from hives within a 50 mile radius. I used two types of honey for my flavors. Golden Rod for my lighter flavors such as lemon Ginger, peach ginger and mango. Wild flower honey for my heavier flavors such as blueberry, elderberry, and bourbon.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to learn and unlearn was to not rely on certain friends to support my business. It’s not that they wouldn’t support, I had to learn that they may not be my target audience. I had to learn and unlearn that they don’t have to promote my business, i.e. on social media. I had to learn that it’s up to me to promote my brand. Why? Because it’s my brand. It’s not their brand.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy of me gaining new clientele is collection of email addresses and tell a friend to tell a friend. I’m world of social media,I didn’t think that people still read emails. In my personal email there are so many unread emails. Not that I’m ignoring them but because I am the owner and operator of a business I don’t have to read my personal email. However after looking at the analytics of my business emails I see that for every 500 emails sent, 400 are opened, 200 may click on the website. Those website clicks potentially turn into a few sales. The more I reach out to my customers the more I will increase sales.

Contact Info:

• Website: Herbfuzion.com
• Instagram: Herbfuzion
• Twitter: Herbfuzionowner
• Youtube: Herb Fuzion
• Other: TikTok herbfuzion

Image Credits
Lanise Middleton Church of Christian Compassion